Many occupations require workers to work at dangerous heights. One such example is the shipping industry. Workers in this industry may be required to work on top of shipping containers or trailers of semi-trucks. Workers may need to inspect containers. Containers may require maintenance such as repair or painting. Securing containers to lifts or trucks may involve workers working above and about such containers. In some cases loading may be performed from above certain containers.
The construction industry also may expose workers to dangerous heights. High-rise building construction may require workers to operate at dangerous heights. Often these workers may operate equipment on platforms high above the ground elevation. These workers may perform duties at these heights without walls or rails surrounding these platforms. Some of these platforms may even have a slope which might facilitate falling off the platform.
Safety harnesses may be worn to protect a wearer from harm if the wearer should fall. The wearer can connect the harness to a secure anchor so as to tether the wearer to a fixed mooring. Such safety harnesses may be worn by workers operating at dangerous heights or near an edge or cliff. The workers, once safely tethered, may then perform their required employment duties.
Should a worker fall from the heights at which he/she works, harm can result. If a person's fall is arrested too abruptly, a person's skeletal system may be broken. If a person's head receives too large a stropping force, the person may receive a concussion, a broken skull, or even brain damage. If a user's fall is arrested too abruptly, the user may hemorrhage internally as a result of the blow to the body. Fallen users may be permanently handicapped by excessive forces that occur from a fall.